It's fair to say that as someone who lives with more rescue cats than is probably sensible, I am no stranger to poo. Currently I have seventeen litter trays of which half are scooped in the morning and the other half are scooped at night. It's no exaggeration to say that my day begins and ends with poo!
Dogs however are a whole different thing when it comes to the 'out' department of the food process. I should explain that I have walked dogs before but with friends and as such their dog's poo was their responsibility. I merely looked on while bags were fished from pockets and the deposit swiftly dealt with.
Now, as someone who walks dogs for a living (alongside other pet services, of course!) the removal of poo is a rather more smelly responsibility but still a very important one.
Here's an interesting fact. Approximately one in four households in the UK has a dog and on average they collectively produce about 1,000 tonnes on poo a day, which amounts to approximately 365,000 tonnes a year. That's an awful lot of poo.
One rather appalling statistic is that only about 60% of owners pick up their dog's poo. Based on the above total that means approximately 146,000 tonnes of dog poo is being left each year to be trodden in, rolled in and often, unbeknown, played in.
Worse, some people think that it's OK to pick up and bag the poo then throw the bag into a hedge or into a handy garden or, horribly, throw it into a tree. There is only one place for poo bags and that's in the bin - your own if there isn't a bin handy.
Now I've got that out of the way, let me tell you about the Universal Laws relating to dogs and their smelly deposits that I have discovered since I started dog walking professionally.
First universal law of dog poo A dog will poo in the most inconvenient or public place it can. Every time. For example, a dog will deliberately pick a beautifully manicured grass verge against the unkempt one. If there is someone in the garden by the beautifully manicured grass verge, even better.
Second universal law of dog poo The moment that your dog will poo is in direct proportion to the attractiveness of the man walking towards you. This universal law was proved many times by a friend of mine when walking her two dogs. Similarly I have found that other categories are also likely to get the same response. Family with pushchair ✓ Any variety of workman ✓ Group of children ✓ Empty road so no embarrassment x
Third universal law of dog poo The more you want your dog to poo the least likely he is to do it. It goes like this. You have a nice little half hour slot booked to sit with a dog, let him into the garden, observe business being done and clean up after him. Does said dog hurry into the garden and oblige? Of course he doesn't.
Lastly, I'd like to say a few words about poo bags. I buy a lot of poo bags these days and I discovered quite quickly that they are not all made equal. As it's my hand going in to it and doing the grabbing, I avoid the super thin flimsy things. Yes, they are cheaper but when you are dealing in quantity of deposit they are a little too thin for comfort. I'll add that I walk some big dogs!
I have settled on a bag that I like, they are strong, come in funky colours and, entertainingly, are berry scented. As a last word on the subject, I'd like to point out to poo bag manufacturers that whilst it's very kind of you to scent bags with various things (I have tried mint ones previously) once a poo bag has been used for its designated purpose, it only smells of one thing and that's poo!
Comments